Retribution VS Rehabilitation

As a volunteer for the program, Step By Step, I helped facilitate workshops for women in jail. The workshop leader and I were there to provide a safe, nonjudgmental space for these women. It was an opportunity for them to open up and be seen.

A majority of the women in jail have experienced physical, verbal and emotional abuse. Many said that this was the first time they could express their feelings without consequence.

It’s programs like Step By Step that show people who are incarcerated that they matter and there is hope. Hope of stopping the cycle of abuse, poverty, addiction and jail.

But programs like Step By Step are few and most (Step By Step included) are grossly underfunded.

Bill Whitaker reports in the CBS 60 Minutes segment entitled Crime And Punishment, “We (the US) have 5% of the world’s population but 25% of its prisoners.”

He also states that we incarcerate more of our nation’s citizens than any other country in the world at a cost of $80 billion per year.

“I don’t matter” is the message a lot of prisoners have gotten all of their lives and our current system reinforces that.

Germany uses a different approach to incarceration. They focus on treating prisoners as human beings and they work to rehabilitate them.

German prison cell. Photo credit: Reuters/Alexandra Beier

Joerg Jesse is a state Director of Prisons in Germany. He says of prisoners,

“If you treat them as if they are your enemy, they will react as enemies.”

In Germany, they create personalized programs for each prisoner that includes counseling, classes, vocational training and work.

As the prisoners work their program, they earn more and more freedom.

The results? Germany spends less and they have 1/2 the recidivism rate of the US.

Is it a perfect system, of course not. But it is working better than our current system.

John Wetzel, the Secretary of Corrections in Pennsylvania, says:

“…we’ve– frankly screwed up the corrections system for 30 years and it’s time to do something different. It really starts with understanding that, you know, a human being’s value isn’t diminished by being incarcerated.”

We need to wake up and see that what we are doing is not working.

What’s it going to take to change this?

We begin by treating criminals like human beings.

Instead of meeting them with anger and retribution, guide them with a strong hand of love and rehabilitation.

Redirect them to a road other than the path of destruction (for them and society) they are currently on.

Ultimately, we have two choices, we can do nothing and continue to watch crime rates, our debt and prison populations grow.

Or we can start a dialogue to let go of the old mindset of “lock them up and throw away the key” and embrace the change needed to make a difference for everyone.

I witnessed first hand, women who came through the Step By Step program, did the work, and changed their lives and the lives of their children forever.

It’s time to stop retribution and reform our prisons. Rehabilitation that includes counseling, education and programs similar to Step By Step are the key to transforming not only our prison system but our communities, society and ultimately the world.